spree#8 wrote:I would hate to see LeBron chose to leave his team for a third time.

Agreed. It would take away from him playing the most important role in bringing a championship to Cleveland. Most great athletes don’t seem to know or wanna accept when their time or era has come and gone. I’ve seen it happen with the best of them. Maybe LeBron knows his era in Cleveland is said and done and doesn’t want to spend the remainder of his HOF career exactly how it began, as far as knowing there’s only so far he can carry his teammates in the playoffs before reality settles.

If he chooses Houston, he’ll play the remainder of his career on a perennial contender that can defeat Golden State, unlike Cavs.

^^^then maybe for him the definition of making others better, which I've heard he's done his whole career, is forcing the issue of empowering his teammates to carry more of the load.

Look, LeBron is an amazing passer when he could easily just score 35 a night, he holds teammates accountable, he leads the fun activities that create a sense of team. He's probably the most inclusive superstar I've seen since Magic Johnson. So understand I'm not disputing that he makes others better.

But something has to be said about the fact that guys who otherwise would be 25 and 10 players look like corner 3pt specialists when he's on the court. Now LeBron doesn't needs to prove anything to me. He's got enough finals trips. But at his age, if he wants to continue winning he has to do more than what I've said, he needs to allow someone to be a Scottie Pippen to his Michael, rather than a whole lotta Ron Harper's.

And it just so happens that his current team don't really have Pippens. But still, it could be the Lebron/Love show. Could've always been but hey, you wanna demasculate Love all these years, now sleep in it.

Grady- Mario is the KD of tanking. Fiz got worried that playing Jordan would help the Knicks win, so he has to make sure Mario gets plenty of minutes.

Good post Nazr, although creating easier scoring opportunities for Kevin Love is one thing and making Love’s defense better — an entirely different thing.

If I were LeBron, I’d want to defeat Golden State’s superpower team in the Finals OR prevent Warriors from winning more championships. That would probably be the one thing I’d do, I must do, before I walked away from the game. As the case, I’d sign with Houston.

So, if he signs with Houston, I’d have to believe that’s the lone reason — defeating Warriors in the playoffs and reaching the Finals and laughing at whatever EC team awaiting Houston, seeing as how there isn’t an EC team that stands a chance against an already formidable Houston that added LeBron.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- While the NCAA tournament is capturing the country's imagination once again, LeBron James says the NBA is just fine with its postseason structure as it is.

The Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star does not want to see the league adopt a play-in tourney with one-and-done consequences.

"No, no, no," James said Wednesday. "That's wack. That's wack. Why? You got to earn your spot to be in the postseason. No consolation for finishing last. That's corny. That's corny. That's wack. To play for what? What are they playing for?"

LeBron James is not a fan of of expanding the number of teams making the playoffs with a play-in-tournament.James said the eight teams in each conference that have the best record at the end of the 82-game regular season should be guaranteed a playoff spot, without needing any further qualification.

ESPN's Zach Lowe reported last month that there is "some behind-the-scenes momentum for the idea of a play-in tournament determining the last two seeds in each conference -- to the point that two specific proposals are circulating at the highest levels within teams and the league office."

Lowe reported the play-in proposal that has generated the most discussion, according to several sources: two four-team tournaments featuring the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th seeds in each conference. The seventh seed would host the eighth seed, with the winner of that single game nabbing the seventh spot, sources say. Meanwhile, the ninth seed would host the 10th seed, with the winner of that game facing the loser of the 7-versus-8 matchup for the final playoff spot.

James appears adamantly against expanding the playoff field in that manner.

"[Make the playoffs by winning the tournament], even if my record is better than yours? Nah, that's wack," James said.

nazrmohamed wrote:^^^then maybe for him the definition of making others better, which I've heard he's done his whole career, is forcing the issue of empowering his teammates to carry more of the load.

Look, LeBron is an amazing passer when he could easily just score 35 a night, he holds teammates accountable, he leads the fun activities that create a sense of team. He's probably the most inclusive superstar I've seen since Magic Johnson. So understand I'm not disputing that he makes others better.

But something has to be said about the fact that guys who otherwise would be 25 and 10 players look like corner 3pt specialists when he's on the court. Now LeBron doesn't needs to prove anything to me. He's got enough finals trips. But at his age, if he wants to continue winning he has to do more than what I've said, he needs to allow someone to be a Scottie Pippen to his Michael, rather than a whole lotta Ron Harper's.

And it just so happens that his current team don't really have Pippens. But still, it could be the Lebron/Love show. Could've always been but hey, you wanna demasculate Love all these years, now sleep in it.

the issue with the Love acquisition was always defense...and now that Lebron is older...Lebron should be the 4 and Love brings no form of fear at the 5 spot.

Lebron is the best player ive ever seen ...yes im including the GOAT in that statement but Lebron is also just a bad GM.

Jordan let the GM's be GM's and it paid off....Lebron having his hands in so many pots has cost him and the time he had a chance to let a GM be a GM and a coach be a coach...he won a couple rings and left because he didnt have full control of the situation.

Lebron makes every on his team very good...but Lebron has never....EVER made anyone else be great and at times letting someone be great is getting out of their way. Wade dialed it down for Bron to be alpha...Kyrie is close and the only argument someone can give me but thats about it...and look at the team Kyrie is on now lol

The coach of Memphis benched Gasol the whole 4th quarter because he was about to make them win against Utah. So much for the coaching staff always trying to win... why not just forfeit the game and reimburse all the stupid fans still naively thinking they’re going to see competitive sport?

This is probably one of the worst NBA seasons of all time. LeBron is unlikely to lose in the playoffs until he faces the west. People can hype up Toronto or whoever but they are choke artists and their star players are not true stars. Same story every year. Bron is going to the finals. Bron could probably go to the finals in the east with us as his teammates.

The west is a 2 team show. 30 nba teams and almost all of them have 0 chance of winning the title. That Durant shit with him going to GS just killed competition in the league.

Thing is, I dont blame KD, I blame the media and the fans for pushing this agenda. The value placed on having a ring is higher than anything else nowadays. This is changing how the players think about their careers. Leading your own team to the playoffs doesnt mean shit. If you dont have a ring you arent shit.

Its absolutely pointless to make the playoffs now unless you have assembled a super team.

Koopa Troopa wrote:Its absolutely pointless to make the playoffs now unless you have assembled a super team.

On one hand, I thoroughly respect today’s brand of athletes that take control of their careers, legacies, whenever possible. Like a wise man once said: “Y’all taught me — get there early.”

At the same time, and like you stated, it casts a dark cloud over the league when the playoff rounds are pointless because, unless the stars misalign themselves at the last possible second, we all know the two teams in the Finals and we all know the team that will walk away with the crown.